Control pedals are typically provided in a motor vehicle, such as an automobile, which are foot operated by the driver. Separate control pedals are provided for operating brakes and an engine throttle. When the motor vehicle has a manual transmission, a third control pedal is provided for operating a transmission clutch. A front seat of the motor vehicle is typically mounted on tracks so that the seat is forwardly and rearwardly adjustable along the tracks to a plurality of positions so that the driver can adjust the front seat to the most advantageous position for working the control pedals.
This adjustment of moving the front seat along the tracks generally fills the need to accommodate drivers of various sizes, but it raises several concerns. First, this adjustment method still may not accommodate all drivers due to very wide differences in anatomical dimensions of drivers. Second, the position of the seat may be uncomfortable for some drivers. Therefore, it is desirable to have an additional or alternate adjustment method for driver control devices to accommodate drivers of various sizes.
Many proposals have been made to selectively adjust the position of the control pedals relative to the steering wheel and the front seat in order to accommodate drivers of various sizes. It would be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that these adjustable control pedals can actuate both conventional cable controls and electronic throttle control (ETC), because the ETC is a function separate from adjustability and the ETC module would typically be positioned remote from the mechanism for adjustment of the control pedals.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,632,183; 5,697,260; 5,722,302; 5,819,593; 5,937,707; and 5,964,125, the disclosures of which are expressly incorporated herein in their entirety by reference each disclosure an example of an adjustable control pedal assembly. This control assembly includes a hollow guide tube, a rotatable screw shaft coaxially extending within the guide tube, a nut in threaded engagement with the screw shaft and slidable within the guide tube, and a control pedal rigidly connected to the nut. The control pedal is moved forward and rearward when an electric motor rotates the screw shaft to translate the nut along the screw shaft within the guide tube. While this control pedal assembly may adequately adjust the position of the control pedal to accommodate drivers of various sizes, this control pedal assembly is relatively complex and expensive to produce.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,643,525 and 3,643,524, the disclosures of which are expressly incorporated herein in their entirety by reference, each disclose an example of an adjustable control pedal assembly which is much less expensive to produce. Each control pedal assembly includes an upper arm having a single horizontal slot, a rotatable screw shaft attached to the upper arm and extending along the slot, a nut in threaded engagement with the screw shaft and having a pin slidable within the slot, and a control pedal rigidly connected to the nut. Each control pedal is moved forward and rearward when an electric motor rotates the screw shaft to translate the nut along the screw shaft. While these control pedal assemblies may adequately adjust the position of the control pedal to accommodate drivers of various size and they are still complex and relatively expensive to produce.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an adjustable control pedal assembly which selectively adjusts the position of the pedal with a simplified actuation system employing a cable to accommodate drivers of various size, is relatively inexpensive to produce, is highly reliable to operate, and prevents pedal adjustment movement in the event of cable failure.
The present invention provides an adjustable control pedal for a motor vehicle, which overcomes at least some of the above-noted problems of the related art. According to one embodiment of the present invention, an adjustable control pedal includes, in combination, a first member having one end, another end, and a slot formed between one end and another end. A pin is disposed in the slot a second member is connected to the pin and is movable along the slot relative to the first member. A biasing member is adjacent the pin and biases the second member toward one end. Additionally, a tension control member is connected to the pin to selectively adjust the second member. The tension control member includes a secondary lock.
In another embodiment of the present invention, an adjustable control device for pedals includes, in combination, first and second control pedals, each control pedal includes a first support member and a second support member adjacent to the first support member. The first member has a first end, a second end and a slot formed between the first end and the second end. A pin is slidably mounted in the slot and is secured to the second support. The second support member is movable along the slot relative to the first support member. A biasing member is between the pin and the first member and biases the second member toward the one end. A tension control member is connected to the first support member to selectively adjust the second member along the slot. The biasing member includes one of a torsion spring, an elastomeric member, and a coil spring.
From the foregoing disclosure and the following more detailed description of various preferred embodiments it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention provides a significant advance in the technology and art of adjustable control pedal assemblies. Particularly significant in this regard is the potential the invention affords for providing a high quality, feature-rich, low cost assembly. Additional features and advantages of various preferred embodiments will be better understood in view of the detailed description provided below.
It should be understood that the appended drawings are not necessarily to scale, presenting a somewhat simplified representation of various preferred feature illustrative of the basic principles of the invention. The specific design features of an adjustable control pedal as disclosed herein, including, for example, specific dimensions, orientations, and shapes of the pedal arms and the slots will be determined in part by the particular intended application and use environment. Certain features of the illustrated embodiments have been enlarged or distorted relative to others to facilitate visualization and clear understanding. In particular, thin feature may be thickened, for example, for clarity or illustration. All references to direction and position, unless otherwise indicated, refer to the orientation of the control pedal assembly illustrated in the drawings. In general, up or upward refers to an upward direction in the plane of the paper in FIGS. 1 through 5, 7 and 9 and down or downward refers to a downward direction in the plane of the paper in FIGS. 1 through 5, 7 and 9. Also in general, fore or forward refers to a direction toward the front or firewall of the motor vehicle, that is, to the right in the plane of the paper in FIG. 3 and aft or rearward refers to a direction toward the rear of the motor vehicle, that is, to the left in the plane of the paper in FIG. 3.